


New Beginning

by dk323



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-29 03:19:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15720912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dk323/pseuds/dk323
Summary: AU of 4x15 where Killer Frost stops the bomb with her cold powers.Barry watches Frost strain to use all the power she has to stop the bomb from unleashing its destruction. As time returns back to normal, Barry is relieved that the nuclear bomb is no longer a threat. But the relief is short-lived when he realizes Frost is missing. And that means Caitlin is gone too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the WIP Big Bang 2018. Thank you to this challenge for motivating me to finish my fic.
> 
> Thank you to my artist, Cassandrasfisher, for the nice story banner. I appreciate it! Cassandrasfisher's art post is [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15752763).

 

“Frost, stop. It’s not working. We can find another way. It’s okay,” Barry told her in a weary tone. The strain of being in Flashtime was tiring him out.

Although disappointment seeped into his voice as he, Jesse and Jay now had to figure out a new solution.

But she didn’t listen to him. “I got this,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not giving up so soon.”

As each blast of cold left her fingers she almost felt intoxicated with the use of her powers. The more she applied herself, watching the bomb stabilize as it cooled down, the more powerful she felt.

Even as she became feverish from the effort, somehow the higher body temperature just spurred her on…like touching fire and wanting more of it even if she knew she’d get burned. The danger was just too attractive to resist.

She did notice a cold mist-like mass surrounding her as she pressed on with shooting cold at the nuclear bomb.

She heard Barry, _the_ _Flash_ she corrected silently _—_ Caitlin seemed to be coming through as Frost reached the maximum limits of her powers--, shout at her, though his voice echoed as if he was speaking from far away.

He was practically pleading with her to _stop, please, just stop_. As if he knew that she was overtaxing herself, as if he could feel the heat burning up and down her body. Frost couldn’t see him or the other two speedsters due to the cold mist masking them.

She continued not to heed his words – instead taking them as a challenge. She pressed on, defiantly straining herself as she wanted to see just how much these cold powers could accomplish. Because cooling down and stopping a nuclear bomb? Frost wouldn’t mind having that on her list of accomplishments.

There came a point when she felt like she had given everything, when delirium from the high fever was setting in and she felt a strong desire to giggle – at what she wasn’t sure. But better to go out laughing than feeling miserable, right?

Frost felt her legs give way and she didn’t have the energy to reassert her balance and stop her fall. She saw black and then she knew no more.

~ * ~

“The bomb is stabilized. She did it, Barry,” Jay informed him as he looked over the nuclear bomb.

Barry smiled.

“That’s a relief,” said Jesse, grinning.

They left Flashtime, time moving again as usual.

“There’s one problem, guys,” Barry said quietly, looking around him unhappily.

He’d hoped that when they returned to normal time, that he’d be able to see Frost. The cold mist had obscured her from view.

Jesse and Jay realized a moment later what Barry’s concern was.

“Where did she go?” Jesse wondered, asking the question Barry wanted badly to know.

Cisco stared at them, puzzled, as he of course wanted to know what was going on.

“What happened?” Cisco asked, looking around him as if trying to gauge the present situation. “Did you stop the bomb? I don’t think I’m moving at superspeed with you again and I’m not dead. That’s good.”

Barry nodded, but he frowned, still hoping against hope that Frost would reappear before him.

“Frost cooled down the bomb enough to stabilize it. But…” he couldn’t say it.

Barry felt awful that he’d asked Frost to help them and now she had gone missing. And he felt that he was to blame.

“What? What is it, Barry?” Cisco asked, looking nervous as he undoubtedly seemed anxious by Barry’s very worried demeanor.

“Cisco, Frost is gone. I don’t know what happened to her. Or where she is… we’ve got to find her.”

“With her missing, then…” Cisco trailed off. His face fell as he came to the realization.

“We’ve lost Caitlin too.” Barry said, feeling defeated despite stopping the bomb.

Silently, Barry thought, _“We’re going to find you, Cait. I promise, we will find you.”_

~ * ~

Earth 7

~ * ~

Caitlin groaned as she sat up, feeling her head. There was definitely a bruise present. Great. It looked like stopping the nuclear bomb had caused Frost to return control back to Caitlin. She felt like she had tapped out with her cold powers while she had been Frost.

To her surprise, Caitlin _did_ remember this most recent episode as her alter-ego: Barry bringing Frost into Flashtime, asking her to cool down a nuclear bomb, and how determined she’d been to stop the bomb that she put everything she had into the effort. Despite feeling like she was on fire as blast after blast of cold left her body.

Barry seeming to realize her strain, urging her to stop, that it was okay, that this wasn’t working and that he would find another way.

But Frost hadn’t listened to him and she continued on.

And now that left Caitlin here, on the ground in the early evening hours, and outside – she looked up around her. She was outside of the CCPD, on the sidewalk by the steps leading up to the building.

Odd – how did she end up here? She must have hit her head – as evidenced by the bruise-- and was suffering temporary memory loss regarding how she’d come to be here – not anywhere close to the location of the nuclear bomb.

She quickly stood up and set her attention on assessing her current situation. Caitlin felt her powers thrumming under the surface, but they felt much weaker than she was used to. Well, at least she still had them in case she needed them.

But she concluded it would be wise to do without her cold powers for a little while – maybe give herself a chance to “recharge.” She bet the most she could do at the moment was a few snowflakes.

Caitlin hoped that she’d succeeded in stopping the bomb. But judging from her surroundings, everything looked normal enough and she would have been dead if bomb had fully detonated. Unless this was the afterlife?

But what sort of weird afterlife had her waking up outside the police department? Admittedly, it was a disappointing start to an afterlife. Considering that, she really hoped she was still alive. She pinched herself to check, and she felt the pressure, so this was not a dream.

She had to head to Star Labs, to get the latest on the bomb.

Unexpectedly, she saw Barry coming down the steps. He was in his work clothes.

Caitlin was puzzled. Had she been out that long? She’d imagined Barry would be at Star Labs now with the team, not at work.

“Barry?” Caitlin called out to him, approaching him.

Barry appeared startled at someone saying his name, as if he’d been preoccupied with his thoughts.

“Sorry? How do you know my name?”

Caitlin’s eyes widened. “You don’t know who I am?”

Barry looked closely at her, as if that would help. “Um… I don’t think I do. I am the CSI director here at the Central City Police Department. Maybe you’ve seen me on the news?”

“Director…?” Caitlin uttered. Whoever this Barry was, he wasn’t the Barry she knew.

Barry nodded. “Are you all right? You don’t look good…”

“I…I think you’re not wrong,” Caitlin agreed.

She felt her forehead – she was burning up. The one side effect of overusing her cold powers she wished she didn’t have to deal with. This fever was going to be brutal, she could already sense it.

She felt dizzy and faint and doubted she could remain standing for much longer.

“Hey, maybe you should sit down,” said Barry, looking at her in concern.

Caitlin wondered if this was a different Earth – as to how she had managed to land here, who knew, but that meant Cisco could find her. That thought comforted her as the fever increased in intensity.

She felt Barry catch her before she could strike the ground.

“What’s your name?” Caitlin heard him ask her in a soft voice.

“Caitlin,” she told him. “I have a bad fever. Just get me to Star Labs… no hospitals.”

She knew it was a strange request, but she sincerely hoped this Barry would do as she’d asked.

She fell unconscious, but before Caitlin did, she swore she heard him say, “Okay,” in answer to her wish.

~ * ~

Caitlin was relieved as she didn’t feel unpleasantly feverishly hot anymore. Her fever had broken, and she was grateful that she felt more like herself again. She stirred awake to the sound of a voice she hadn’t heard in some time.

“All right, Caitlin. What’s your deal?”

“Rathaway, she’s just waking up. This is not the time to badger her,” the voice had to belong to Dr. Harrison Wells.

“She specifically asked to come here. I want to know why. Any hospital could have easily treated her for a fever and that head contusion. We don’t even have a doctor here, not a medical doctor anyway.”

“That’s because _you_ keep scaring them off, Rathaway. Don’t forget that.”

“They _didn’t_ meet standards,” Hartley shot back.  

Caitlin wanted to roll her eyes. Typical Hartley Rathaway. Even on this Earth, he seemed to have a superiority complex.

She opened her eyes to find this Earth’s versions of Harrison Wells and Hartley Rathaway arguing with each other a few feet from her bed.

“I can hear you both,” she spoke up.

Both of them turned to look at her.

“Ah, Caitlin… good to see you’re awake,” said Harrison Wells. “You’re looking better. You’ve been asleep for a few hours. We treated your fever and there is no internal injury from your head contusion. The swelling from the contusion has gone down, so you should be on your way to recovery,” he informed her. “I am Dr. Harrison Wells, owner of Star Labs; and this here is Hartley Rathaway, a physicist who works for me here.”

“I’m Caitlin… Caitlin Snow. Thank you for helping me. I appreciate it.”

“Why did you want to come here instead of a hospital?” Hartley asked her. “That Barry Allen – he said you insisted on being taken here.”

“Oh uh… I just don’t like hospitals. Where is he, anyway? Barry Allen?”

Hartley shrugged. “He wanted to stay to make sure you would be okay, but I told him to go. He left a phone number to call him when you’re up.”

“Why did you tell him to leave?” Caitlin demanded to know.

Hartley smiled a little too widely. “Because I could. I suppose he was so turned off by my sunny personality that he chose to leave.”

Dr. Wells looked like he wanted to smack him. “I apologize, Ms. Snow – Hartley--”

Caitlin brushed it off. “It’s fine. You don’t need to explain. I’m glad you got his number though. It’s Dr. Snow, by the way. If you’re in need of a doctor… I do have medical expertise. And I’m looking for work at the moment.”

“If you can handle Hartley,” said Dr. Wells in a bit of a dire tone as if that was an impossible task.

“I think that won’t be a problem,” said Caitlin confidently.

“But we need her credentials, Dr. Wells. Just because _she says_ she’s a doctor doesn’t make it true.”

“I can answer any medical questions you have… but as far as documentation, that’s complicated.”

Hartley looked at her suspiciously. “Why is that?”

“If you’re aware of the existence of the Multiverse, then well, I’m very sure I’m on a different Earth. Not by choice and I don’t know how I ended up here. That’s why I can’t offer you the paper proof you need. I’m not even positive that there isn’t another Caitlin Snow on this Earth.”

“I can check that for you,” said Hartley. “But why did you want to come here?”

“There’s a Star Labs on my Earth, and I work there. It’s like a second home to me. It is my home more than any place else,” Caitlin explained, trying not to think of the team back home.

If Cisco never managed to locate her, could she accept never seeing her friends again? The terrible thought was too painful to consider.

“I wasn’t sure if Star Labs was here too, or even if I’d be able to trust anyone who worked at STAR… but I decided the risk was worth it. I never liked hospitals anyway.” She finished with a shrug.

There was more to it though, but Caitlin didn’t want to reveal her powers yet. She had been concerned that if the hospital doctors found out she was a metahuman – possibly through a blood sample – then she would have had to face an unwanted problem. And uncomfortable questions she didn’t want to answer.

Even if there was the chance that she’d deal with unwanted questions at Star Labs due to being a metahuman, Caitlin would rather be here. Just the simple familiarity of Star Labs – no matter what Earth -- was far more preferable than a hospital.

She wondered too if the particle accelerator explosion had happened on this Earth. She assumed it didn’t since the Barry on this Earth didn’t appear to have his powers. Caitlin made a mental note that she get in touch with him.

“You’ve had a difficult day, I imagine. You can rest here for the night if you’d like, Dr. Snow,” Wells offered her with a small smile.

“Thank you. I’m not feeling that tired. I think I’ll make a call. Hartley, could you give me Barry’s number?”

“Sure.”

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Hartley asked, looking at her with some suspicion.

“Maybe, but I’m not ready to talk about my life story yet. How about you tell me about what you’re hiding?” Caitlin said.

Though she was taking a shot in the dark about Hartley hiding something, Caitlin could see that it seemed to work on him. He looked put out, frowning at her, but then Hartley brushed it off -- his face going blank -- and he went to get what she’d asked for.

Caitlin wasn’t sure if the Hartley here was gay too, but she did get the distinct feeling that Hartley’s “secret” was not about his sexual orientation. After all on her Earth, Hartley had come out about his orientation. It wouldn’t be too crazy to think the same had happened on this Earth.

Gratefully, she took the number when Hartley handed it to her.

“I know I had my cellphone on me.”

“Here,” Hartley said.

Caitlin raised her eyebrow. “You didn’t try to access it?”

“I told Hartley not to,” Dr. Wells put in.

Hartley shrugged. “Like he said.”

“Right. I’m going to go… need to stretch my legs. I’ll be back.”

She climbed out of bed and headed out of the Med Bay so as to get some privacy for the phone call. Though she could feel Hartley watching her like a hawk. It seemed like it would take some time to get him to trust her. But Caitlin had always known Hartley to be difficult to work with, so this was no different. She would make the best of the situation. And she was relieved at least that they accepted her story and that Dr. Wells let her have a job here.

“Hi, is this Barry Allen? This is Caitlin…sorry for fainting on you earlier,” she said, trying to joke a little to make light of the situation.

It had been somewhat embarrassing that the fever had caused her to just faint like that. She was not going to overextend herself with her cold powers any time soon – that was for sure.

“Caitlin, hi. I’m glad you called. No need to apologize for that. Did they help you at STAR Labs?”

“They did. I really appreciate you taking me here when it was an odd request. Especially since I’m just a stranger to you. So thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I was worried about you.” He said, sounding concerned.

“I appreciate that. I just wanted to call to say thank you. I’ll be staying at Star Labs overnight,” she let him know. “Unfortunately my place is being fumigated, so it’s uninhabitable right now,” Caitlin lied.

Better that than tell the truth about her being from another Earth over the phone. No, that kind of conversation needed to be done in person if she had the courage to go through with it. Hopefully this Earth’s Barry would believe her.

“You can stay with me. That is, if you don’t want to spend the night at a hotel after you leave STAR Labs. I have a guest bedroom. I rented a bigger place when I was promoted to Director, but it just feels too big sometimes living here on my own. I could use a roommate.”

“Wait…you’re single?” Caitlin asked in surprise. She wanted to put in, “what about Iris?” but she didn’t know if Iris West was in his life or even existed on this Earth. Best to keep things simple.

“Oh no. You sound like my Mom and Dad. They’re always getting on my case about that. I’ve just never had the best luck with my love life. Everyone pretty much says I’m married to my work.”

Caitlin was stuck on the “mom and dad” part and barely heard the rest of what he said. She couldn’t believe it – Barry’s parents were both alive here. That was a small piece of information she was happy to hear.

“I’m the same,” she admitted to him. “Things never worked out the way I wanted them to in my love life.”

“Then we can commiserate together on our failings. Would you accept my offer… come by tomorrow?” Barry asked.

Caitlin wasn’t expecting this at all. But it was certainly a tempting proposition. Better than staying at STAR Labs until she’d earned enough to get her own apartment on this Earth.

“Okay, I’ll accept. I’ll see you later tomorrow, Barry. Thank you for offering.”

“Good! Great. I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

Caitlin returned to the Med Bay. She frowned when Hartley stared at her and seemed to want to say something, but he had decided against it. Dr. Wells was nowhere to be seen.

“What?” She asked him.

“Nothing. Talk went well?”

Caitlin nodded. “Yes, it did. I’ll be staying with Barry until I find my own place. I need to buy some clothes though, and other essentials. I have a friend who can access other Earths. I just hope he doesn’t take too long in finding me. But in the meantime, I have to make the best of my situation.”

Hartley raised his eyebrow, looking at her in disbelief. “Really? You know someone who can just go to different Earths on a whim?”

“Yeah, is something wrong with that? I’m guessing then that you don’t happen to have a way to other Earths here at STAR Labs?

Hartley rolled his eyes. “If we did, trust me, I would have let you know. You’re the first person visiting from another Earth that I know of. The fact that both Dr. Wells and I are entertaining your story and believing you… maybe we’ve both lost our minds or…”

“You’re really in need of a medical doctor. Even if it means believing my somewhat unusual story. But I swear to you, I’m not making this up,” Caitlin said firmly, trying to get her point across. “Where did Dr. Wells go anyway?”

“He figured you needed a change of clothes due to being stuck here for the time being,” Hartley explained to her. “He has some of his wife’s clothes that could fit you. His wife died two years ago.”

“Dr. Wells doesn’t have to do that,” Caitlin said, surprised that he’d go through that trouble.

“He wants to though. He can’t bring himself to get rid of her clothes or donate them to strangers. Suppose Wells thinks this way, at least her clothes will be useful even if you’re mostly a stranger to us.”

“What about family members? Wouldn’t they want some of her items to remember her by?”

Hartley shrugged. “Yes, but not clothing. Wells has two sons, and I think they find it unsettling to save some of their mother’s clothing even just as a keepsake. Obviously, they can’t wear them so the outfits would just be hanging in the closet without purpose. In the end, it works out to your favor. You’ll have something to wear until you can go shopping.”

She sighed, choosing to let it be. She didn’t have the energy to get into a big argument after the unexpected turn her day had taken. One moment she was stabilizing a nuclear bomb as Killer Frost, straining her cold powers to the max, the next she was on a different Earth with a head contusion and a fever.

“All right. Did you find out about another Caitlin Snow existing on this Earth?”

Hartley gave a quick nod. He peered down at his tablet. “Yes. No Caitlin Snows.”

Caitlin bit her lip. “What about Cisco Ramon? He’s a friend of mine.”

“What sort of name is, “Cisco”??” Hartley commented, turning up his nose.

“Just look him up, Hartley,” Caitlin said impatiently.

After a quick check, Hartley looked up at her, shaking his head. “No to Cisco Ramon. Anyone else?”

“What about – Carla Tannhauser?” Caitlin asked, her voice coming out uncertain.

She wasn’t sure why she wanted to know if her mother existed on this Earth. Curiosity winning out, Caitlin decided. If no version of Caitlin Snow existed on this Earth, then if her mother did exist here, then there could be a chance she wasn’t old enough to have children yet. Or maybe on this Earth, Carla Tannhauser never had children.

Hartley’s eyes widened. He didn’t even look down at his tablet. “And what was she on your Earth?”

“Just a friend,” Caitlin said with a shrug.

Hartley didn’t seem to believe her, but Caitlin was relieved when he didn’t inquire further. “There is a Carla Tannhauser on this Earth. She’s in her twenties, and a genius bioengineer, but she declined a job offer to work at STAR Labs.”

When Hartley revealed that a version of her mother did exist here, Caitlin was glad that she hadn’t told him the truth. That would have made things particularly awkward. Especially now knowing that her mother here was closer to Caitlin’s age.

“So you know her?”

Hartley nodded. “Dr. Tannhauser is still willing to help us on a consulting basis. She’s all right.”

“Is she married? Does she have children?”

Hartley gave her a weird look. “No, I don’t think so. I think she’s too busy making a name for herself right now. I’m guessing she’s married with children on your Earth?”

Caitlin nodded, trying to appear nonchalant. “Yeah, something like that. I was curious.”

She didn’t believe that she’d fully convinced Hartley. Although Caitlin didn’t blame him for his wariness. After all, she had admitted that she was from a different Earth. Of course Hartley would be cautious around her as this Earth’s Hartley thought her a complete stranger.

“We can make up one of the rooms for you downstairs if you want,” he offered.

“No, that’s fine. I’ll just stay in the Med Bay. Since I’ll be leaving tomorrow. No need for the extra trouble.”

“If you want,” said Hartley with a shrug.

Dr. Wells returned a short time later with some clothes for her. Caitlin didn’t really want to dwell on the fact that they were once worn by his dead wife.

“Thank you, Dr. Wells,” she told him, smiling in gratitude. “And I—I wanted to say I’m sorry for your loss. Hartley told me about your wife.” She let him know, feeling sympathetic to him as she knew what it felt like. True, Ronnie hadn’t been her husband for very long when he’d died, but losing him was certainly hard – and not to mention Caitlin had to go through losing him twice. To discover he was alive and then to lose him all over again had been heartwrenching.

“I appreciate the condolences, Dr. Snow,” he said with a nod. “I take it one day at a time… having my sons helps get me through the difficult days.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” she said softly.

Not long after, Caitlin decided to turn in for the night. It had been a strange few hours, and she still hoped that Cisco would find her. But for now, she could only stick to her plan: stay here overnight, then move to this Earth’s Barry’s place and work here at the STAR Labs.

She found it hard to sleep, nagging worries about if she’d succeeded in stopping the bomb haunting her. Caitlin wished she had been able to stay long enough to know for sure. But unfortunately, she had found herself on this other Earth before she got a confirmation either way.

After almost an hour of fruitless tossing and turning, Caitlin ripped the covers off her and climbed out of bed in the Med Bay.

Rubbing at her eyes, she wandered into the Cortex and found Hartley sitting there.

“Are you here to keep an eye on me?”

Hartley looked up at her, then he looked down, focusing on the computer screen as he typed on.

“This is a big facility with a lot of advanced, expensive tech. And you just showed up out of the blue. Can’t be too careful.”

“I see you’re very trustworthy,” Caitlin said, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Hartley rolled his eyes. “Everyone has a probationary period. Consider this yours.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure my friend will find me on this Earth soon and you’ll be free of me. Hopefully you’ll be able to find a doctor up to your standards.”

Hartley didn’t look too concerned. He must have made peace with her leaving.

Then again, Caitlin hadn’t displayed her expertise yet to prove that she was worth having as a doctor.

“Given time, it’ll happen.”

Caitlin sat down in an empty chair beside him. “So… on my Earth, there was a particle accelerator explosion at STAR Labs. Did that happen on your Earth?”

Hartley stared at her. “Maybe… why are you asking me this?”

“Well, the explosion led to the creation of metahumans – humans with unusual, superhuman abilities and powers.”

“Yes, we have those. After the particle accelerator explosion a year ago.”

“Is there anyone who has superspeed?”

“No. And that sounds annoying -- someone running at superspeed while others just stand there feeling like… snails,” Hartley said, grimacing at the thought.

“That’s uh…an interesting observation.”

“On your Earth, you have someone like that?”

“Yes. I know a few speedsters. I’m surprised there’s none on your Earth.”

And that meant the Barry Allen here wasn’t a speedster…which was odd for Caitlin. But then again, the Barry on Earth 2 hadn’t been a speedster either.

“You’ve never heard of The Flash?” Caitlin asked Hartley.

“What – like someone flashing people?” Hartley shot back at her, eyebrow raised in bemusement.

“No, not like – never mind,” she said with a sigh. “Forget it.”

“What are you working on?” Caitlin asked him.

“A security measure so no meta can use their powers to get into STAR Labs. If they try to get inside then they will fail due to the power dampeners.”

“So when my friend comes, he’ll land outside of the building?”

“Yes, can’t take any chances – good or bad metas. It has to be this way.”

“Fine, it’s not my place,” said Caitlin with a sigh. “Anyway, mind telling me what you said to Barry that persuaded him to leave?”

Hartley shrugged. “He told his girlfriend to come here to get checked out. Since she’s a meta. I thought it was a waste of time, mostly. Her power was to make pies out of thin air. Actual ones that you could eat. Not a very useful ability… wasn’t happy about it since I felt like he was taking advantage. Just because I try to help out the CCPD with the metas, doesn’t mean he can just tell people to come here and take up my valuable time.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad. And making pies that easily can be a useful skill. Just thinking of all those people who go hungry around the world.”

“Yeah, but it still sounds ridiculous. When we have some metas who’ve attacked people and we’ve been struggling to contain the situation. Anyway, she’s his ex-girlfriend now. I guess he wasn’t thrilled when I may have rubbed it in his face about her current boyfriend. Maybe gaining powers made her more interested in being with someone who was a meta too. Can’t miss the two of them around the city,” he said with a slight smile to himself like he was proud of himself for what he’d done. “So that’s why he left.”

“That was real mature,” Caitlin said with an eye roll. “Who is his ex-girlfriend?”

“Linda Park.”

Caitlin almost wanted to ask about his any other girlfriends this Barry had dated, but she decided it wasn’t a good idea. It wasn’t her place.

“I bet you weren’t happy then when he brought me here. Someone else needing help.”

Hartley stared at her, looking a little surprised that Caitlin had come to that assessment. “Yes, well, you were different since you were unconscious and needed medical attention. We weren’t going to turn you away.”

“Thanks for doing that.”

“The decision was more Dr. Wells than me. I just went along with it.”

Caitlin sighed. She didn’t feel too surprised by that admission. The Hartley on this Earth had some similarities to the Hartley she knew.

When she couldn’t help but let out a yawn, she realized how tired she was now.

“I should probably get some sleep. You should too,” Caitlin told him.

Hartley raised his eyebrows at her. “I’ll consider it.” He said, but he looked like he was biting back a more cutting retort.

Caitlin shook her head at him, but figured that was the best she would get out of him. She felt herself getting warm, and she felt her forehead. It was a little warmer than Caitlin wanted it to be. Hopefully her fever wasn’t returning?

She decided to go back to sleep, hoping it was simply a mild fever that would work through her system with some much needed rest.

Caitlin was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She didn’t feel like she had slept for very long when she was woken up to someone shaking her shoulder.

“Hey, wake up, Caitlin. Your fever’s back,” it was Hartley, his voice urgent.

"Leave me alone,” Caitlin muttered, wanting to go back to her peaceful, dreamless sleep. She kept her eyes closed. She barely registered what Hartley was saying to her.

“I can’t do that,” Hartley said quietly.

Frustrated, Caitlin finally opened her eyes. She sat up in her bed in the Med Bay and grabbed Hartley by the arm aiming to push him away from her. She felt Frost wanting to come to the surface, but Caitlin willed her alter-ego to stand down, to not take over.

When she touched Hartley, Caitlin was alarmed when he started to pale, his skin turning blue.

He fell to his knees and tried to remove her hand from his arm, but Caitlin kept her grip on him. She felt herself growing stronger as Hartley appeared to be weakening, shivering as she held on to him. Heat, Caitlin thought, she was getting heat transferred into her. It was ironic considering she had a fever that she was feeling better with _more_ heat inside of her.  

Then the terrible realization hit her that she was hurting someone, hurting Hartley, for his body heat. Sure, he wasn’t a particularly amicable person most of the time, but he and Dr. Wells had helped her, had let her stay at STAR Labs.

So with that thought, Caitlin feeling horrified at what was happening to her, she let go of Hartley. He staggered back and he was still shivering, but he was still breathing.

He was still alive.

Dr. Wells rushed into the room. “I should have come sooner. I’m sorry. Hartley, are you okay?”

“I’ll be… fine,” he said, his teeth chattering. He wouldn’t look at Caitlin.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” Caitlin said to Hartley who nodded to her. It was a small gesture, but it was a start at least. He wasn’t completely mad at her. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Hartley, get warmed up now. I’ll speak to Caitlin.”

As Hartley left the room, she heard him say something like, “I _can’t_ believe they’re real.”

“Dr. Wells, what is going on with me? I’ve never had this happen before.”

“I wouldn’t be wrong in assuming you didn’t tell us everything about you, Dr. Snow. Such as the part on being a metahuman. We do have meta alert devices here, you know.”

“Yes, I am one,” Caitlin admitted.

After what had just happened, she had to come out with the truth. “I have cold powers -- cryokinesis, frostbite, freezing breath, cold immunity. But transferring body heat from people into myself is not my power.”

She had drained Barry of some of his heat a few times, but none of those times did she feel the heat entering her. She had never felt like she did now – almost intoxicated with the sensation, the feeling that she needed to get more heat, and not just heat from any source but heat from a living person. Even if it would leave the person dead. The thought was so awful. She tried not to dwell on it and promised herself that she wouldn’t kill anyone. “Believe me, it’s not.”

“Be that as it may, it appears you can do this transfer now. Once there were people like you -- we called them heat vampires -- on this Earth. About a century ago, the heat vampires were hunted down to extinction. People feared being frozen to death.”

Caitlin was really worried now. She was concerned that this Dr. Wells would think it would be best to kill her to keep her from hurting others.

“I don’t want anyone to die because of me,” she insisted.

Dr. Wells gave her a small, reassuring smile. “I believe you, Dr. Snow. We’re going to help you.”

*** ~~~

Earth 1:

“What?” Barry asked when Cisco looked over at him.

Cisco shrugged. “Nothing.”  

But what Cisco wanted to say was that Barry looked miserable. And he was tempted to just tell Barry to go home and meditate or something. Find a way to relax and not think about losing Caitlin. But he knew that would only earn him an incredulous look from Barry.

And no matter the number of times that Cisco had tried to reassure him that they would find Caitlin, that didn’t seem to help much either.

Iris and Joe said they were heading to see that EMT who could have meta stealing powers. Barry looked at each of them in turn and he seemed like he wanted to say something.

Cisco jumped in, guessing that Barry was going to offer his help. But he was in no good frame of mind to head out into the field.

“If this EMT really has power stealing abilities, then maybe Barry shouldn’t go. We can’t risk him losing his powers. It’s always caused problems in the past.”

Joe nodded, understanding. “Good point, Cisco. Just stay here then, Bar.”

Barry nodded, giving him a small smile. “Will do.”

Cisco had to admit he was surprised that Barry went along with his excuse for Barry sitting this one out. He was grateful yet also worried for Barry’s mental state if he wasn’t willing to go out there as the Flash no matter the potential danger.

“Hope you feel better, Barry. We _will_ find her. Believe we will, okay?” Iris said to him in earnest, looking at him sadly.

Barry nodded, trying to smile reassuringly at her. “Thank you, Iris. I know we will.”

Cisco didn’t get the sense that Barry truly believed that, a hint of pessimism seeping into his words. He could see by Iris’s frown that she could tell Barry didn’t have much faith that they would find Caitlin. But she left anyway with Joe.

Leaving Cisco to deal with Barry.

“Seriously, man. It’s only been a day since Caitlin went missing. We’ve scoured this whole Earth to track her down and got nothing. Harry and Jesse are checking over on their Earth for Caitlin. True, they haven’t found her there, but that’s one Earth down at least.

“Jay hasn’t seen her on Earth 3, but promised to keep an eye out for her. And Ralph is looking over on Kara’s Earth.  I contacted Leo Snart on Earth X. It looks like Caitlin isn’t on that Nazi-infested Earth, thank god, from his latest report. All things said, we’ve done a lot in the search for Caitlin in a short amount of time.”

Barry sighed.  “I know. I should be more hopeful. I get that finding a missing person can take a long time. But we’re not even sure Caitlin is on a different Earth. She could be in a different time, in the past or the future. She could be in a place that can’t be found from any satellite.”

Cisco shook his head. “No, I can’t think about her being in a different time period. Then that will leave even more places for Caitlin to be trapped in. I hope she’s just on a different Earth and I can breach my way to her.”

Barry looked thoughtful for a long moment. “I can travel in time. Search for her that way. If Caitlin is in the past, then maybe she would be able to leave us a message about her location. We only have to think about where to find any note or sign she left.”

Cisco sighed. “Only if we find some proof of where she could be in time. If you keep traveling at super speed to different places across time, then you’ll be overtaxing your powers. Even if you are faster than ever before, you could end up stuck in time if your speed gives out from overuse. You’re not immune from that, Barry.” Cisco reminded him.

Barry’s eyes lit up and Cisco realized a moment later what he was probably thinking.

“The Legends. We should get in touch with the Waverider, ask if they can track down Caitlin across time.” Barry said, smiling and looking pleased with his idea.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll contact the Waverider. But we really should talk about what’s going on with you, Barry. Why you’ve taken Caitlin going missing so hard. This isn’t the first time Caitlin has been in danger. At least we don’t know if she has been abducted this time. Hopefully she’s just stuck somewhere or some when and waiting for us to find her.”

Barry looked down, rubbing the back of his head. “It was my fault, Cisco, okay? I asked for Caitlin’s alter-ego to help us.  That made her safety my responsibility. Meaning nothing bad would happen to her while she used her cold powers against the bomb. And now she could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere without anyone able to identify her body. Without us to be there for her.”

“Barry…” Cisco said softly, wanting badly to get through to him.

Cisco refused to believe his oldest friend, the best friend he’d been through so much with could be dead. Not after she had succeeded in diffusing the bomb. Not after everything they’d been through with the loved ones they lost, then losing Caitlin to her dark side and the great relief Cisco had felt when Caitlin came back to them, to her friends.

But Barry raised his hand, stopping Cisco from speaking. “And you know what the worst part is?”

“What, Barry?”

“Frost was the one in control then, not Caitlin. Caitlin could be angry with us for putting her in danger when she didn’t consent to it--  her alter-ego did. For all we know stopping the bomb caused her to disappear. If I hadn’t sought out Frost’s help, then Caitlin and Frost would be here with us, alive and well.”

Cisco couldn’t believe Barry was thinking this. “Barry, trust me. I’ve known Caitlin longer than you. If she could have stopped the bomb without Frost taking over, she would have in a heartbeat. I’m sure on that decision both Caitlin and Frost are on the same page. Don’t think any different, you hear me?” His voice was firm, refusing to let Barry argue with him on that point.

“Okay. I trust you, man.” Barry backed down, though he sounded hesitant. “Now let’s contact the Waverider.”

~ * ~

Caitlin looked up when she heard someone enter the Med Bay.

“Hartley, you shouldn’t be here. Not after what I did to you.” Caitlin said.

Hartley shrugged, still shivering despite the big down coat he was wearing. His hands were shoved into his pockets.

He nodded toward the ball of fire in a specially designed anti-flammable clear container  that Caitlin was hooked up to.

“Is that working?”

“Not as well as I’d like. But it’s better than--”

“You draining someone’s heat and killing them?”

Caitlin frowned. “I don’t want that to happen. I was in a bad place months ago and did things I regret. I don’t want to return to being a villain. I’d rather die if it’s the only option.”

Hartley sat down in the  chair by her bed. “We can find a criminal over at Iron Heights who deserves to die.”

Caitlin eyed him, looking at him incredulously. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Hartley decided. “Hopefully we can figure out how to help you without a death on our hands.”

Caitlin wished she could be hopeful and believe that they could uncover a way to cure her. So that she wouldn’t keep feeling the need for more heat. She hated feeling like she wouldn’t survive without a heat source her body would completely accept.

While the ball of fire somewhat helped, Caitlin wished that it would be more successful. She didn’t want to admit that her unintentional draining of Hartley’s body heat was keeping her going. That otherwise, maybe she’d be losing it now, going off the deep end and trying to escape to collect the heat her body needed. Caitlin came to the terrible realization that no alternative like the contained fire would be the cure she needed.

“I wish this fire would be the cure. I’m sorry it isn’t. I’m sorry I hurt you, Hartley.”

“Don’t. I know you didn’t mean it. And Dr. Wells told me about heat vampires, that the best source of heat for them is from living people. I should have exercised more caution.”

“But you weren’t sure at the time that I was one. I could’ve just had a fever. I didn’t let you both know that I was a metahuman.”

“All right. Things could have gone differently. We just all have to move on past it.”

Caitlin peered at Hartley thoughtfully. “You’re keeping something from me, aren’t you? Since you know about me being a meta now, it wouldn’t be too much to ask to learn more about you. How about your parents?”

Hartley looked surprised. “Why is the first question about my parents?”

Caitlin smiled slightly. “Well there is a Hartley Rathaway on my Earth. And he’s had a rocky relationship with his mother and father.”

“And why is that?”

Caitlin gave him a penetrating look. “I think you know why.”

“I kept certain things from my parents. I didn’t want to risk being cut off. Even if in retrospect, I realize that made me weak. Hard to have the courage to act.”

Caitlin hadn’t expected that this version of Hartley would make the decision to keep such a big part of himself a secret. No wonder he was unpleasant most of the time. It had to take a toll to keep a secret from your own parents.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

And she meant it. She considered her own secrets that she doubted she’d ever be brave enough to confess them to another living soul.

A memory came to mind, a moment long ago now between her and Barry. He had lost his powers and had just finished telling her about how he loved being the Flash. And she had reassured Barry that with or without his speed, he was still Barry. They’d exchanged meaningful looks and then Caitlin remembered thinking…

She stopped her train of thought. No good could come from that.

She returned her attention to Hartley.

He sighed, shaking his head. “My parents are dead now. Died in a car accident. This was before the particle accelerator explosion. Some people found the accident suspicious. They thought I was behind it so I could get my inheritance upon their deaths. But I was never charged because I had nothing to hide.”

“The court of public opinion is still a problem? They still see you as a suspect?”

“After the particle accelerator explosion, I did all I could with Dr. Wells to make things right. To deal with the metahuman problem, but it didn’t stop the doubters. I even put a significant portion of my inheritance into Star Labs. After all, this was the only place in my life that really felt like home.”

“I know the feeling. Hopefully as time passes, people will recognize the good you’re doing. I started helping my city as my meta alter-ego and I think people are starting to see me in a better light. I just hope I can fix this “heat vampire” problem. It’ll undo everything. I’m a danger to others.” Caitlin said, frowning.

“We have Dr. Tannhauser to help us out. She’s talking with Dr. Wells now. I’m sure she’ll come up with a solution.” Hartley informed her.

Caitlin gave a slight nod, but she didn’t feel very confident about this Earth’s version of her mother succeeding in helping. While she knew she should have more faith in any version of her mother, Caitlin just couldn’t. And after all, her own mother had only left her feeling fearful of her powers.

She had wanted her mother to be there for her, but Caitlin should have known better. Years of her mother distancing herself from Caitlin couldn’t be changed. She had to actually tell her mother that she wanted her to comfort her, to reassure her and not just to coldly run the tests that Caitlin could easily do and had already done a lot of them.

Maybe she would be left surprised, but she admittedly wasn’t holding her breath. Sadly, she truly felt that the only solution for her would end in her killing people for their heat.

“I hope so,” Caitlin said to Hartley quietly.

A dark part of her coaxed her, urged her to finish the job and drain Hartley completely. Even if the act would kill him. Caitlin wasn’t sure it was the Killer Frost side of her, or something else, something much worse. She would have liked to think that Frost had become a better person since helping defeat the Earth X Nazis.

Could she have an even darker side that she hadn’t been aware of before? Was this frustrating need to take away people’s body heat the thing that awoke this side of her that she never realized that she had before? Caitlin badly wished this part of her would leave her alone. But she doubted she would be that lucky.

She swallowed. Her fingers curled inward and she pressed her nails into her palm, close to drawing blood. Anything to feel something other than the gnawing hunger for body heat as what she had drained from Hartley was wearing off by the second.

“Hartley, I think you better go,” she told him, a warning tone in her voice.

Hartley stared at her, considering her words. “Something’s wrong.”

“I don’t want to have to hurt you, any more than I’ve already done,” she said honestly, hoping this would be enough.

“All right, all right. Just -- hold on. We will fix this. You will be cured of this heat vampire deal, okay?”

Caitlin gritted her teeth. “Please, you should leave.”

To her relief, Hartley exited the room.

She let out a breath. To her dismay, a memory came to mind of when she was on Earth 2 with Cisco, Barry and Julian and she had drained enough of Barry’s heat so that he could play dead. It hadn’t been that long ago, really, but right now, it definitely felt like another lifetime ago. She hadn’t had the hunger then, and she hadn’t needed the heat of a living person to survive to keep her sane, to keep her… sated.

“You have to kill him the next time if you want to survive,” a traitorous voice whispered to her inside her mind.

“Shut up. That’s not true,” Caitlin shot back under her breath.

She inhaled and exhaled, desperately using breathing exercises to calm herself down. She tried to convince herself that the fire was working even if it was little better than a placebo.

“You have to kill Barry. Your life or his...” the unwanted voice in her head told her, imparting a bitter truth Caitlin wanted to ignore.

Caitlin wanted to scream. “Then I’ll die,” she said in defiance. “This is not the life I want to live. I don’t want to be a heat vampire. So _leave me alone_.”

The voice didn’t return and it became very quiet in her head.

Caitlin closed her eyes and did her best to get some sleep.

~ * ~

It was in the late afternoon that Barry came by Star Labs.

Hartley groaned when he saw Barry Allen on the surveillance monitor.

“Barry Allen from the CCPD is here. I guess he finally couldn’t wait. Had to come here himself.”

Dr. Wells gave him a pointed look. “As I recall you told me, Mr. Allen did offer Dr. Snow a place to stay. It’s a surprise he didn’t come here sooner looking for her.”

Hartley shrugged, trying not to look guilty. “I may or may not have kept Caitlin’s phone on me and put it on silent. I think there were some missed calls. Maybe he decided that strategy wasn’t working.”

“Hartley, are you telling me that you ignored his calls? At least he deserved an assurance that Dr. Snow was all right. That would have been common courtesy.”

“That wouldn’t have stopped him from coming. And since we’re dealing with Caitlin being a heat vampire, Barry should stay far away from her if he values his life. Not sure he would have believed me anyway if I’d told him over the phone that he could risk getting his heat drained if he went anywhere near Caitlin.”

Dr. Wells sighed. “I see what your concern is, Hartley. But now with all the metas in Central City now, I think he’ll believe more easily than you think he will.”

“So we should let him in?” Hartley asked, though he already knew the answer. “Is Carla any closer to finding a cure to Caitlin’s heat draining problem?”

Dr. Wells shook his head. “I don’t think so. I just checked with Dr. Tannhauser, and she believes she has an idea, but she’s doubtful it’s the kind of cure Caitlin needs.”

“Great.”

Reluctantly, Hartley allowed Barry into the facility. And a few minutes later he was up in the Cortex.

“Where is Caitlin? Is she all right?” He asked Dr. Wells.

“She ran into an unexpected problem, Mr. Allen. I am sorry you weren’t made aware sooner. Mr. Rathaway decided not to return your calls as he was in possession of Caitlin’s phone.”

Barry frowned. “I called Star Labs too. No one answered.”

Hartley shifted his eyes, trying to appear innocent. “What a shame.”

“I’m not the least bit surprised,” Barry said, sounding tired. “What’s the problem she’s having?”

Hartley spoke up before Dr. Wells could lay out his explanation. “She’s a meta with cold powers who’s now become a heat vampire. She needs to drain body heat from a living person to survive. Since Caitlin is unstable at the moment, you should keep your distance from her.”

“ _Heat vampire_ … seriously?” Barry said, then he studied Hartley, noting his winter coat that he still kept on though he was indoors and the heat was on.

“Did she hurt you?” Barry asked him.

Hartley nodded. “I would imagine you’d be thrilled about that.”

Barry gave him an incredulous look. “Of course not. You can be difficult, but that doesn’t mean I’d be glad to see you hurt or killed. Was it an accident? Caitlin didn’t realize what she was doing?”

“She pulled back when she returned to her senses, Mr. Allen. Fortunately she was able to stop herself before she could kill Mr. Rathaway,” Dr. Wells told him.

“That’s good then. That she’s capable of stopping herself. Though she’s mostly a stranger to me, I still would like to think that she’s strong enough to fight this.”

“We’ll figure out a solution. Dr. Tannhauser is working on it.” Hartley let him know.

“By the way, would your name be short for Bartholomew? That’s what it says on your official documentation,” Dr. Wells said, tone light.

Barry looked taken aback. “Why are you asking me that? You’re right, but I don’t see why you’re bringing this up now of all times.”

“I didn’t miss your look of understanding, of _belief_ when we brought up heat vampires. You believe they are real unlike most people believe these days.”

Barry gave off an air of nonchalance.“I like to believe in the impossible, that’s all. It has nothing to do with my name.”

Hartley stared between the both of them, confused. “What is going on? What is so significant about his full name?”

“Because correct me if I’m wrong, you had an ancestor who went by Bartholomew. Has anyone in your family been named after him?”

Barry shook his head slowly. “No. For some reason, my parents decided to use it for me though it sounded old-fashioned. But I just stuck with shortening it to Barry. I still don’t understand, Dr. Wells…”

“I think you do, Mr. Allen. Considering Caitlin's predicament now, it can’t be coincidence that you were given that name after what your namesake went through."

Hartley narrowed his eyes, easily putting the pieces together. “Am I right in guessing that some ancestor of Barry’s encountered a heat vampire? Or was a heat vampire himself? Is that was this is about?”

“No, Bartholomew wasn’t a heat vampire… he…,” Barry paused, rubbing at his forehead, head down. He looked up, directing his answer to Hartley. “He died in World War I protecting those under his watch. We should focus on helping Caitlin. And how do you know about my ancestor or heat vampires, Dr. Wells?”

“Just out of pure curiosity. That is all. Although it was very hard to find information on heat vampires. With their extinction a century ago, most texts on them appear to have been destroyed. It’s a tragedy what happened to them.”

“Even if they were draining people to death?” Hartley asked, frowning.

“That was the only way they felt they could survive,” said Dr. Wells. “But we have to make sure that Dr. Snow doesn’t have this burden for the rest of her life.”

“She did tell me she had a friend who can access other Earths. Maybe it that works out for her friend, then her friends could figure out a cure for her if we can’t.”

“Caitlin’s from a different Earth?” Barry uttered, shocked. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

“Didn’t seem that important,” Hartley said.

“There’s one big problem with her friends coming to help,” Dr. Wells said sadly. “All the openings to this Earth -- in and out -- are permanently closed without any way to open one. It’s a surprise that Dr. Snow managed to land on this Earth. From everything I know, it shouldn’t be possible.”

“So we’re on our own,” Hartley concluded with a resigned sigh.

“Don’t look so defeated, Hartley. We can figure out a way to help Caitlin. We just have to work together,” said Barry, sounding hopeful.

Hartley couldn’t help but glare at him, bothered by the optimism he exuded. “Whatever.”

Barry rolled his eyes, and he went off to see Dr. Tannhauser after asking Dr. Wells where she was.

~ * ~

"You're serious?" Cisco said, tone one of disbelief. "You captured _Jack Frost?"_

Sara shrugged, arms crossed. "That's what we're calling him for now. Haven't found out his real name yet -- he's still knocked out. The capture was a little too easy, which makes me suspicious, but he did manage to hurt Ray. So it's a good thing we got him before he could hurt anyone else."

"Will Ray be all right?" Barry asked as they went down the walkway toward the Med Bay on the Waverider.

Sara nodded. "Gideon has it handled. Ray just has to get his temperature back up. This Jack Frost guy was able to hurt Ray, drain his body heat I guess according to Gideon, _without_ touching him. I don't think Caitlin's Frost alter-ego could do that. Right?"

Barry sighed. "That's true. Killer Frost needs to make physical contact to drain."

"I'm sorry that she's gone missing. Maybe talking to this Jack Frost will help? Since he has similar powers to Caitlin's Frosty persona? Or do you want us to search through time to see if Caitlin time traveled accidentally?"

Cisco exchanged a look with Barry. "Both. We can't leave any stone unturned. I can go and talk to the guy you captured."

"I'll come with you, Cisco," Barry was quick to say.

"All right. I'll get Gideon to do a search across time for Caitlin and her alter-ego. Be careful you two with Jack Frost. He has power-dampening cuffs on him, but you both should still keep your guard up."

Barry and Cisco nodded their understanding. Sara led them to the cell where they were keeping Jack Frost. He was lying, still asleep, on his back on the bed, cuffs around his wrists. His hair was full-on white though he looked young, in his mid-to-late twenties most likely. He was wearing a dark blue sweater and well-fitting dark jeans.

"Good luck," said Sara, frowning at the prisoner.

"Hey wait... we want to go inside the cell. I can try to Vibe him," Cisco told Sara before she could make her exit. "If there's authorization we need?"

Sara sighed. "That might be a bad idea. But since you two have powers and he has power-dampening cuffs -- even if we don't know for sure if they have an effect on him -- then fine. I'll let you in with him."

Sara opened up the cell for them. She didn't look especially thrilled with allowing them such proximity with the Waverider's prisoner. But she turned to leave regardless.

Barry and Cisco entered the cell. "We got this, right? It's just someone with Killer Frost's powers, but--"

"-- but very likely, more powerful than Killer Frost is," Cisco finished, still determined to go with his plan.

After all, if Killer Frost disappeared inexplicably after an intense use of her cold powers, then who better to ask for advice on what could have happened to her than someone else with similar powers?

"We're not sure how cooperative he'll be. What if he demands to be free for information he provides us?" Barry said.

"I'm hoping he would want to help out someone like him. Though he hurt Ray, he didn't kill him," Cisco pointed out.

"Because he was stopped in time... but you're right, Cisco. He may be willing to help us if it has to do with someone with powers similar to his."

Cisco gritted his teeth, steeling himself. "Ready or not."

He reached out a hand and touched the prisoner's arm. He was assailed by a memory of this man who appeared their age.

But Cisco wasn't so sure about the man's age after seeing the memory.

The memory centered around a young boy around ten years of age. His hair was brown, his eyes a pale grey. Yet he was wearing an outfit more suited for the nineteenth century, not the late 20th century when the memory should have been taking place. Cisco was left in doubt if this boy really was this man lying in this cell. But it had to be. He was Vibing the prisoner. He was seeing this man's memory.

Did this mean that the man -- this supposed "Jack Frost" was immortal? Or at least had a longer than average lifespan? Maybe he had time traveled? And managed to get a hold of more modern-looking clothing?

Cisco watched the boy walk backwards into a frozen lake. A few boys seemed to be harassing him, pushing him toward the ice.

The boy kept his distance from them, continuing to walk backwards, one step after another, even though the ice began to crack. The ice was thin, and Cisco had a bad feeling about this. But clearly the boy hadn't died because he was right in front of him now, an adult alive and well.

The ice finally cracked through and the boy's eyes widened as he slipped and fell into the cold, unforgiving water. He tried to hang on, gripping the ice in front of him with his fingers, but it appeared futile.

"I can't swim!" The boy cried. "Please! Help me!"

The bullies just ran off in the other direction, ignoring his desperate pleas for help.

The boy fell into the cold lake water. The water where he'd fallen through froze over, leaving little evidence of what had transpired.

Then Cisco saw another boy, this one with bright blond hair, a few years older than the boy run toward the ice.

" _Callum!"_ He shouted.

The older boy, fear and concern written all over his face, struck his hand into the frozen lake and broke through the ice.

The memory ended there, and Cisco sucked in a breath as he left the Vibe.

He was back in the prison cell with Barry on the Waverider.

And the prisoner was finally awake.

~ * ~

"You shouldn't be here," said Caitlin. "I'm a danger."

Barry stayed regardless of her warning. "I know. Hartley and Dr. Wells told me about you being a meta and that you're from a different Earth. I have an idea though after talking with Dr. Tannhauser. It's mostly something she came up with. I'm going to assist her."

"You don't have to do this. We barely know each other."

"It's all right. I want to help. There's no use convincing me otherwise."

"I just wish you wouldn't," Caitlin said softly, still certain that any solution to help her would result in someone else getting hurt. And she wasn't ready for that.

"Caitlin, I understand the risks," he told her, sounding earnest to get his point across. "I'm doing this with my eyes wide open. You'll be okay. Don't worry."

Barry's words gave her hope no matter her dark mood. There was just something about his voice that was so soothing that Caitlin couldn't help but be reassured.

Maybe she could come out of this nightmare scenario with the constant awareness that she could kill someone. That she needed to hurt someone, drain another person's heat to survive.

"Could you tell me what you're planning to do?" Caitlin was curious and also somewhat dreaded to know.

Barry shook his head, giving her a small smile. "No, I don't want you to try to talk me out of it. Just have a little faith in me -- I know that we don't know each other all that well, but that's all I can tell you now. I'm sorry. I wish I had gotten a chance to know you better before..."

"I found out my powers mutated so that now I'm a heat vampire," Caitlin finished quietly, unable to keep the misery out of her voice at this unwanted turn of events.

"How did you come to this Earth? If you don't mind me asking. That must have a part to play as to why you're a heat vampire now."

Caitlin sighed. She looked down at her hands. "I was attempting to diffuse a nuclear bomb -- cool it down with my cold powers. My alter-ego was so determined to stop the bomb that she used a lot of her power, probably too much than she should have," she decided, almost wishing Frost had stopped.

The bomb would've still been a problem, but Caitlin was confident that Barry and the rest of the team could have found a different solution to prevent the bomb from destroying the city.

"Neither she nor I were aware of any risk to using that much power at one time. Besides maybe a temporary power outage. But some time to "recharge" should restore my cold powers to normal levels. I wasn't expecting to transform into some heat vampire. I hate the idea of depending on draining body heat to survive. I can't -- I _won't_ live like that."

Barry nodded, gripping her hand in a comforting gesture. "We _will_ fix this."

Caitlin looked at him in surprise. “I don’t understand… when Hartley was here, I was worried about killing for more heat. But with you, I can’t. I can’t believe I didn’t see the difference before.”

True, she still felt a need to get more body heat, but that need was weaker than when Hartley had visited her. When she reached out with her powers to Barry, she felt a block, an inability to drain him as she had so easily done with Hartley. Caitlin had barely needed to turn into Frost to drain Hartley’s body heat - it had been so instinctive, so simple. Her now altered powers must be compensating for the lack of an adequate heat source within touching distance. Her desire for heat was down as a result.

She was very grateful for that “compensation.” At times, she feared she would scratch her arms until they bled to focus on _that_ pain instead of the need for body heat like she was starving.

Barry nodded, understanding. “It’s my ring, a family heirloom. The ring stops a heat vampire from using their body heat draining ability on the ring wearer. Although after the heat vampires went extinct, it’s become just a nice piece of jewelry passed down for years. I never imagined the ring’s power would be needed one day.”

“Dr. Wells told me about hunters who killed heat vampires. Is the ring from one of those hunters? I can see them having that to protect themselves.”

Caitlin did not like the idea of one of Barry’s ancestors helping to cause the extinction of people like her. Even if those heat vampires deserved it for killing people. Even if this Barry was from a different Earth and _not_ her Barry. It didn’t make her dismay any less valid as when she looked at this other Barry, Caitlin couldn’t help but see some of the Barry she knew well.

Barry shook his head quickly.

“No, no. As far as I know, my family never included those hunters. Ironically enough, this ring was made and given to my ancestor, Bartholomew, by a heat vampire.”

Caitlin’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yes. The ancestor I was named after. This heat vampire gave Bartholomew a ring to protect him from all heat vampires including himself. Before they died out. From family stories, I found out it was super difficult to make this ring, to give it its defensive properties. That’s why only one was made. But that won’t help you, not fully. It won’t stop your desire to drain body heat.”

“Do you know more about the heat vampire?” Caitlin was curious to know, her interest peaked.

Barry nodded. “I can show you. This ring holds a memory of his. A memory detailing an important event in his life. I think it will help you to understand him better.”

“But if he placed the memory inside the ring, then won’t it be biased?” Caitlin asked, feeling doubtful. “It’ll make him look good so your family wouldn’t try to kill him and instead side with him. And clearly that has worked since the ring has been kept in your family for years.”

Barry bit his lip. “I understand your concern, but trust me, this memory doesn’t make him look like a saint or hero. There are some parts that leave me baffled as to why my family still supports him.”

“You talk as if this heat vampire is still alive. I thought all of them died.”

“He was the most powerful of all the heat vampires. I don’t have definite proof he’s alive, but if any one of them could survive, it would have been him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is still alive now, well over a century since his time -- if the hunters hadn’t gotten to him first. Someone with his power can become nearly immortal.”

“What’s his name?”

“You can call him Jack.”

“You mean, “Jack” as in Jack Frost? Did he let people call him that?”

Barry nodded. “On this Earth, he is seen by believers as the actual Jack Frost. I’ve read news reports from all across the world where people saved from avalanches or rescued out of ice cold lakes or even taken to safety when caught outside in a bad blizzard… and some of them swear that Jack Frost saved them. Even if no one saw him. It’s like he’s an invisible guardian angel.”

“What do you believe?”

Barry appeared thoughtful. “I’m not sure if the heat vampire connected to my family is the same one people view as a savior. I do hope Jack is alive because then that means his kind can live on through him. Even if the heat vampires hurt people, I don’t feel that they deserved to disappear from the world, to have been hunted down.”

“Feeling like I do now, needing body heat to survive, I can understand the challenge the heat vampires were faced with,” Caitlin admitted. “I’m sure they wanted to live their lives in peace without being forced to kill or hurt anyone. But they were left with no alternative. Unless they had a death wish.”

“The memory won’t give you the cure -- I’m not sure there is one -- a permanent cure at least. But maybe you’ll find the memory informative… you see what Jack went through and how he met my ancestor.”

“Okay. I’m ready. I could use the distraction if nothing else.”

Barry put out his hand and told her that she just needed to touch the jewel on top of the ring to activate the memory. Caitlin touched the pale grey jewel on top, the strange stone glowed underneath her finger and felt cold too.

The memory unfolded before her.

It was of Jack sitting in a chair, restrained. She assumed it was him as he had white hair, as Caitlin did when she transformed into Killer Frost. His eyes glowed white too.

But worryingly, Caitlin saw his hair shifting color into a darker, brown hue. And the worrisome part was Caitlin doubted that Jack was behind the change -- that he wasn’t willingly returning to his “non-meta” look as Caitlin did when she switched from her white-haired alter-ego back to her plain brunette self.

Jack frowned, glaring at his captor.

“So your plan is to kill me? Did you really think that would work?”

“Your look is changing, your power is weakening. We know that you can’t survive without your power. And with that, your fellow “cold creatures in arms” will fall too. With you gone, they can’t live on either.”

Jack smiled, looking amused. The man, his captor -- and Caitlin figured one of those hunters that Dr. Wells and Barry had told her about -- looked nervous, appearing off-footed by Jack’s expression.

“All of you are so sure of yourselves that only you remain here to watch me as my power drains away. No one else wanted to see my impending death? I admit I’m disappointed.”

“Oh they will return. Everyone is looking forward to carrying your corpse out and burning it.”

“You must be very brave, or very foolish to be here alone with me. Without even one person to have your back. That has to be a rule in the “hunter handbook” -- never engage a “monster” without someone present to help if you need it. We have done nothing to you. We stay in our corner, and don’t seek to hurt people. And here you all are, wanting to kill me.”

“Your powers, the powers of your kind, are unnatural and wrong. And we can’t trust you or your comrades to play nice all the time. Don’t deny the reports of innocent men and women getting hurt, getting a nasty bit of frostbite. One young woman lost part of her leg because one of your kind became so angry with that poor woman that she attacked her viciously with your unforgiving “cold powers.” Don’t play the victim, Creature. I won’t buy your lies.”

“Humans maim and kill too. No one’s perfect. We don’t deserve being eradicated for something just a few of us have done. Just like humans -- without an ounce of “unnatural power” -- shouldn’t be forced into extinction simply because some bad seeds shoot people down and torture others.”

“The world would still be better without you in it.”

A long silence followed.

“As I said before, you shouldn’t be here alone with me.”

“Why is that?” The hunter asked, sounding annoyed and impatient.

“Your spell didn’t work. Not like you wanted it to. You should realize that I’m not so easy to get rid of.”

“You’re wrong.”

“I know for a fact that you’re missing a key ingredient. One that you will never be able to get. Your plan has failed.”

“You’re bluffing,” the hunter scoffed.

“I’ve made very sure that I would hold off death for as long as I can. I won’t let any hunter, no matter how determined, derail my goal. Try, yes, but never succeed.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Your spell did do something though. So it wasn’t all a lost cause,” Jack said quietly.

The hunter stared at him.

“It’s made me hungry, starving actually. But I think I can fix that.”

The hunter collapsed, turning blue as Jack, presumably, drained his body heat without even touching the hunter. During this, Jack remained seated, restrained, with a grim face as he froze his unsuspecting captor to death.

“I did warn you,” Jack said to the body before him.

He sighed as he iced the manacles locking him into the chair. He rubbed his wrists, which were a little red and bleeding slowly. A moment later, Caitlin was surprised that the injury vanished. She was familiar with her accelerated healing abilities as Killer Frost, but this healing just seemed faster. Like blink in the eye quick. She couldn’t forget that the reason he had his powers back now was due to killing that hunter.

Looking perfectly unbothered, Jack strode out of the room. Caitlin couldn’t believe that he wasn’t distressed or anything like that after knowing he had to kill to gain his power back. Maybe he was just very good at keeping his emotions in check.

But it wasn’t just about having power, Caitlin reminded herself. She knew how she was feeling now -- that she wouldn’t survive, that she wouldn’t live much longer if she didn’t drain someone’s body heat. It was a hunger that wouldn’t leave her until it was satisfied, and even then, the hunger would return. After all, everyone had to eat everyday. There were limits for how long a person had before the hunger and thirst would cause their body to shut down.

So perhaps Jack was just someone who easily accepted what he had to do to survive. If the hunter had been right, then other people with cold powers depended on Jack’s survival. He didn’t have just himself to worry about in the end.

Caitlin gasped when she saw dead bodies lining the hallway Jack walked down.

“One person isn’t enough,” Jack said a little sadly. “For me at least.”

Caitlin wondered when he had drained them? Had he been able to do it while he’d been trapped in the room?

That was unnerving, to imagine that he could sense anyone nearby and know how to drain them without even being face to face.

She wasn’t sure if he could adapt quickly to any situation no matter how adverse, or if he had experience in the past with draining body heat. That this spell now only forced him to hurt people in order to survive. Maybe before it had been just a choice like Caitlin freezing Barry so he could play dead in Gorilla City on Earth 2.

There was movement up ahead and Caitlin noticed a young boy running past at the end of the hallway adjacent to the one she was in.

Jack frowned, seeing the child too as he peered in the boy’s direction.

“Hey there!” Jack called out.  

The boy didn’t pay him any mind and continued on his way.

Jack sighed, and to Caitlin’s surprise, he vanished, teleporting with a swirl of snowflakes left in his wake. Of course, it was conceivable that this man would have the ability for teleportation if he was as powerful as Barry said he was.

Caitlin found her location changing and suddenly, she was beside Jack who had caught up to the boy.

He was kneeling before him, his hands grasping the boy’s arms. The boy was looking down, ignoring Jack.

“Why are you here? What did they want from you?” Jack asked.

The boy shrugged, but he didn’t say a word.

“What’s your name?”

The boy looked at him, shooting back with a, “What’s yours?”

“I’m Jack.”

“Bartholomew. My name is Bartholomew.”

Caitlin saw everything fading around her, and a moment later, she was back in her bed with Barry by her bedside.

"It seemed like there should have been more to the memory," she let him know.

Barry nodded. "I think over the years, the ring has been damaged. It's only affected the memory as far as I know. I guess the passage of time hasn't been the kindest to it."

"Hopefully the shield against people like me will continue to work."

Barry looked sadly at her. "I hope so too. For now, that seems to be functioning well enough."

"Could you tell me what they needed from your ancestor?” Caitlin was curious.

Barry bit his lip, then seeming to come to a decision, he told her, “The hunters took some of his blood. They needed the blood of a human child for the spell. As you saw from the memory, the spell failed.”

“Turning Jack and his kind into heat vampires instead of killing them all.”

“Yes.”

Caitlin got the sense that Barry wasn’t telling her something. He couldn’t quite look her in the eye when he had told her what they needed Bartholomew for. But she let it be, as still, in his point of view, she was still more of a stranger to him. She didn’t feel it was her place to interrogate him about his ancestor. This was his family history, and he had a right to keep it private.

Still, she couldn’t help her need to know. Tentatively, Caitlin asked him, “Do you know what else the hunters needed for the spell? Maybe we can make an antidote to reverse what they did. To turn a heat vampire back into a human or just someone with cold powers. Getting the blood of a child shouldn’t be hard. Of course, I would ask for permission first. I wouldn’t want to force a child to just give me some of their blood.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what the other ingredients were. All I and my family know is about the blood used. Anyway, I should go. I have to get ready.”

Caitlin sighed, nervous about this plan that that Barry had in mind to help her.

“I’ll be back soon,” he assured her.  

She gave him a weak smile. "Okay."

~ * ~

“So are you two planning to kill me or take me to a prison with metal bars?” “Jack Frost” said.

“The first option is a tempting one,” Cisco said.

Barry stared at him. “Really, Cisco? Sure, he hurt Ray, but he’ll survive. At least he didn’t kill him.”

“Yeah, but he’s still a dangerous meta. Sara wasn’t even sure the cuffs would weaken him. Better safe than sorry. And being able to hurt people without touching them? Putting him down may be the smartest option.”

“Great. Now you’re making me sound like a dog.”

“I saw a memory when you were a kid. Is your name Callum? And it looked like you have a brother or other close family member.”

Barry looked curiously at Cisco, wishing he knew just what he saw in his Vibe of the prisoner.

“That’s an invasion of privacy,” he told Cisco, sounding affronted. “I’m not telling you anything. I have no reason to.”

“You won’t get out of here unless you give us what we need.”

“You can call me Jack -- Jack Frost is my full name.”

“You’re serious -- you’re really going by _that_ name?” Barry said in disbelief.

“What can I say -- I have an ego,” Jack said with a shrug. “And it’s not like “Jack Frost” is a real person. I didn’t see the harm in borrowing the name. Had a nice ring to it.”

“Yeah, I bet it does compared to Callum,” Cisco retorted.

“No idea who you’re talking about.”

“What did you see in the Vibe, Cisco?” Barry couldn’t hold out any longer.

“I saw a boy who looked like Mr. Ego here. He was being bullied by some other kids and fell into an ice-cold lake by accident. He probably would have died, but then another older boy came and attempted to rescue him. That boy called out his name, which is Callum apparently. Since “Jack Frost” is alive and well in front of us, I’m taking a wild guess that he did survive the near drowning.”

“Impressive deductive skills,” Jack said drily.

Barry studied Jack, and then he said, “You can break out of here, can’t you? You’re stuck on this ship though. We’re currently traveling through time, so leaving this ship is not possible.”

“I went through a lot to get here, to this Earth. I’m not going to make new enemies when what I need now is… allies. I’m sorry about that man -- Ray? I didn’t mean to hurt him. I was just..disoriented after breaking through a breach and landing here. I stopped myself when I realize what I was doing to him. He’ll be okay, won’t he?”

“He’ll survive as long as you keep your distance. Why did you leave your world? Fugitive for murder?” Cisco asked.

“There are these hunters who’ve been after me for years. Finally I managed to open up a way to leave my world, to escape. Always having to look over my shoulder was exhausting. The breaches in my world, both in and out, have been shut for decades. Only now was I able to make an escape. I admit I’ve killed people, but you have to understand… these hunters and their ancestors -- they made me who I am.”

Barry looked at him, curious. “Which is what? A meta with cold powers?”

“No, I had cold powers long before the hunters captured me. I became a heat vampire, along with others with powers like mine. It made us dependent on humans for their body heat. We were hunted down to extinction over the course of a decade or so. Horror stories of us spread like wildfire, and many were all too ready to kill us. I was the last one standing.”

“Because you were the most powerful?”

Jack shook his head. “No, it was because I found an alternative source of heat. So I didn’t have to kill people who didn’t deserve to die. I was able to lay low and not worry about being out in the open.”

“Who was your “source of heat”?” Cisco wanted to know.

Barry wondered if like him, Cisco had this mental image of Jack keeping some human locked away in a dungeon. A person who was able to rapidly recover their body heat so Jack could drain them again and again. Like a meta with quick heat restoring abilities.

“It was a source that worked,” he only said, being frustratingly elusive. “Anyway, coming to this Earth has caused me to be separated from this source. So I don’t have too long before I may want to get some sustenance. What do you want from me? If you want to kill me, then do it already. I won’t stop you.”

“We need your help,” Barry put in before Cisco could say anything.

“I’m listening,” he said.

“We have a friend who has cold powers similar to yours. But she’s _not_ a heat vampire like you. She’s missing and we need help finding her.” Barry told him, wondering if Jack’s line about wanting to have allies over enemies would prove true.

Jack looked at the both of them. “If you know where she was last seen, then I can figure out where she is now. I need her name too.”

“How can you do that?” Cisco wanted to know. “She’s not from your Earth. You know nothing about her."

Jack smiled. “It's a part of my abilities. Doesn’t matter what Earth your friend is from, as long as she possesses cold powers, I’m sure I can find her. Just requires a certain level of concentration.”

Barry put in, reminding him. “She’s not a heat vampire. She’s different from you even if she has cold powers.”

“That doesn’t matter. I’d like to think of the “heat vampire” thing as an incurable virus for those with cold powers. One, believe me, I’d love to get rid of. Anyway, you show me her last sighting and tell me her name, then the sooner you’ll get your friend back.”

“She’s probably on a different Earth or a different time period, even. It’s not a simple search here,” Cisco told him.

Jack shrugged. He easily iced the power-dampening cuffs and climbed out of bed.

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

Barry and Cisco stepped back, prepared to fight him.

Jack only stood up, raising both his hands as if in surrender. “Allies, not enemies, remember? You’re just going to have to trust me… take a leap of faith.”

Barry exchanged looks with Cisco. “We should let Sara know to get us back home. We’re going to show Jack what he needs to see.”

Cisco nodded. “Yeah, guess we should.”

He sounded a little defeated. Barry could tell he wasn’t too thrilled about working with this stranger, especially one with powers strong enough to break the power-dampening cuffs like they were fake props.

Barry felt about the same as Cisco, but his desire to find Caitlin eclipsed that. She was one of his best friends, and he wouldn’t pass on this chance to finally track her down.

~ * ~


	2. Chapter 2

“No, no, no. I’m  _ not  _ letting you do this,” Caitlin argued as she ripped off the IV connecting her to container that had the ball of fire. 

The useless fireball, really, as to Caitlin, she’d compare it to receiving lukewarm water when she wanted something closer to boiling water. 

She again wished that this curse she was now stuck with didn’t lead to a grim future where she had to worry about killing people. 

Barry gave her a small smile. He was looking paler than normal, his eyes a little watery, and he appeared to have some trouble walking steadily. Caitlin would guess that he was feeling delirious too. That would explain why he was smiling now when he would be risking his very life in a couple of moments.

Dr. Tannhauser was in the room too along with Hartley and Dr. Wells. Caitlin was concerned that Hartley didn’t seem to be getting much better. He was still shivering and had on a winter coat though the heat was on in the building. He kept his distance from Caitlin, standing in the far corner of the Med Bay. 

“I understand your concern, Dr. Snow,” said Dr. Tannhauser, looking as unhappy as Caitlin felt. “I admit I’m not too happy about settling for this treatment. But Barry here offered, and he informed me of what his ring could do.”

“Did he tell you that the ring is damaged too?” Caitlin pointed out, shooting a glare at Barry. 

She wasn’t going to let an omission like that slide by. 

Barry cut in, “Only the _ memory  _ part. Trust me, the part that matters here does work. Also, the ring has accelerated healing specifically for body heat being drained. I would offer it to Hartley, but it only works for those of my ancestor’s, Bartholomew’s, bloodline.”

Hartley rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say,” he said, sounding dismissive. 

Caitlin knew that Hartley would really need something to help him recover. It was a shame that Barry’s ring wasn’t the answer. She didn’t want Hartley to suffer because of her, much less die. 

Whatever medical treatment Hartley was getting, for some reason he wasn’t improving as he should. What if it was because this wasn’t a normal occurrence of hypothermia? He’d had his body heat drained through supernatural means, through Caitlin’s meta powers -- what if  _ that _ made successfully treating the condition more difficult?

“You just have to try, Dr. Snow,” Dr. Wells said to her quietly. “Mr. Allen has been injected with a serum that simulates a fever. So you would be _ helping  _ him by lowering his body temperature. And as Mr. Allen said, his ring should assist him in recovering from the drain.”

“I’m sure I’ll need more heat than what’ll come from the fever.” Caitlin said, frustrated about that reality, but accepting it all the same. 

“I’m okay with that,” Barry reassured her. “The ring  _ will _ make this work, Caitlin. We all want to help you, all right? I just need to take the ring off and we can start.”

“This is barbaric,” Hartley spoke up from his corner of the room.

Caitlin couldn’t help but agree with him.

“Be that as it may, it’s the best option we have right now,” said Dr. Tannhauser.

“We need someone to place the ring back on Mr. Allen’s finger,” Dr. Wells said. “With the effects of the heat drain, he’ll be thinking even less clearly.”

Caitlin was surprised when Hartley approached the rest of the group. He said, “I’ll do it. I’ll make sure he gets the ring back on before it’s too late.”

“Hartley, I hurt you. You’re still not better from that,” Caitlin reminded him, frowning. “Maybe Dr. Wells should do it.”

“I’m fine. I’m still alive, right? I can do this. I want to help. I’m sure I’m the only one here who’ll be able to stop Barry from doing something idiotic.”

Barry gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean by that, Hartley?”

“Don’t think you’ll persuade me to hold off on returning the ring with some crap like, “Oh, don’t do it yet. I can handle the heat loss for a few more minutes. I’ll survive.” Yeah, if you think I’ll listen to you, you’re  _ dreaming _ .”

“Hartley will be the one, then,” Dr. Wells decided. “By virtue of not being taken in by Mr. Allen’s--”

“-- _ Self-sacrificial _ tendencies.” Hartley finished, lips twisting into a smile. 

Barry sighed. “All right, fine. Even if Hartley’s still dealing with a bad case of hypothermia -- not sure how he can keep his fingers steady enough to place the ring back on.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m good. You focus on yourself,” Hartley said, shooting him a defiant look.

Shortly thereafter, Barry got himself settled in a chair by Caitlin’s bedside.

Dr. Tannhauser began a countdown, and the moment she reached, “1”, Hartley removed the protective ring from Barry’s finger.

Caitlin wanted to resist, to fight this crazy plan. Unfortunately, she couldn’t help it as her body was practically begging for body heat. She didn’t want to hurt others, but that the basic instinct to survive was winning over.

Barry grabbed her hand, gripping it tight and not allowing her to push him away.

“I can’t believe you want to do this,” Caitlin said to him.

“I want to help. It’s that simple.”

“You barely know me,” she reminded the other world’s Barry.

Hartley spoke up, “Don’t bother reasoning with him, Caitlin. He has a screw loose, so just humor him.”

Barry raised his eyebrow at him as if he couldn't believe Hartley was resorting to calling him crazy. He turned back to Caitlin. “I haven’t known you very long, but I can tell that you are a good person and you don’t want to kill people.”

Caitlin turned her head away from him. She wanted to get the body heat needed, but she was biting down on the inside of her cheek so hard, it was painful. She could feel the blood inside her mouth. The blood was a good thing. The distracting sensation and bitter taste of blood stopped her from what her body was aching to do. It would be just so much easier to let her heat vampire self to just drain Barry’s body heat, and then, she would feel better. She would finally feel like she could breathe easier then. The need for heat would mercifully subside for a time.

“You don’t know that. Not for sure,” Caitlin countered in defiance.

“The fact that you’re not draining any body heat now proves my point. I still feel my fever and you still look like you’re on death’s door.”

Caitlin frowned. She looked around the room, at Hartley, Dr. Wells and Dr. Tannhauser… and then back at Barry. They were all waiting for her to stop being such a martyr and just do what she had to do to live.

“You two are made for each other,” Hartley muttered under his breath.

Barry just gave Caitlin a piercing look. Caitlin read the look as, “Please trust me.”

She hated this, but if Barry was willing, then, she might as well try this out. After all, the ring should heal him so he wasn’t going to die from this. Not if Caitlin could help it.

So she stopped fighting and allowed herself to drain the body heat she badly needed. 

Caitlin closed her eyes as she couldn’t bear to look over at Barry and seeing him turning far too pale. But as the heat rushed into her body making her feel stronger, she did feel Barry’s hand. His grip on her hand slackened.

She opened her eyes, distressed when she saw his head down and his eyes were barely staying open. She checked his wrist and could his pulse felt very faint. She let go of his unresisting hand, not wanting to continue for any longer. Caitlin fiercely ignored the voice in her head telling her that she hadn’t gotten enough -- that she needed more body heat.

Hartley was already putting the ring back on before Caitlin could say a word.

“Not… working,” Barry said in a whisper.

Caitlin’s eyes widened.

“Guess that ring is really broken,” Hartley said.

“It can’t be! He has to heal,” Caitlin exclaimed, scared for him.

“Hold… on…” Barry said. He closed his eyes.

“ _ Don’t you dare _ fall asleep,” Caitlin told him, her voice one of scolding.

“Close... your eyes,” Barry told them.

Caitlin stared at him in confusion.

But she did as he requested. Even with her eyes shut, she could  _ feel  _ an intense light overcome the room.

A few minutes later, but what felt almost like forever, Barry said it was okay to look. 

Caitlin and everyone else opened their eyes. Barry was looking much better as if he hadn’t had nearly all his heat drained.

“You’re okay?” Caitlin asked him, studying him over. 

He wasn’t so deathly white anymore, and he looked rested. Somehow he had been healed, but how if the ring wasn’t working? It had to do with the white light, Caitlin was sure of that, but what that light was, she didn’t have any idea.

“Whatever you did, Barry…” Hartley said, trailing off. Caitlin watched him remove his winter coat. His hands weren’t trembling and his skin wasn’t so worryingly pale as before. “I’m feeling back to normal too… what did you do?”

Barry shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. The important thing is that we’re both healed.”

“ _ Of course it matters _ ! Are you making a mystery out of this to drive me crazy?” Hartley accused of him.

Barry smiled over at Caitlin, giving her a wink. Caitlin couldn’t help but grin back at him, grateful for this turn of events.

Barry faced Hartley then. “Yes, that’s my evil plan, Hartley -- to drive you crazy.”

Caitlin noticed that Hartley was looking especially thoughtful. If he was anything like the Hartley from her Earth, Caitlin didn’t doubt that he wasn’t going to let this slide. He would research until he found the answer and uncover the secret Barry was concealing. 

Caitlin was curious herself, but she would rather get to know this Barry better and become closer friends with him. Then one day, she hoped that he would trust her enough to tell her the truth.

**~ * ~**

She couldn’t believe that she was back here again. Caitlin had hoped that she wouldn’t have to drain body heat only hours after she had done so on the other Earth. But she couldn’t deny how she felt, that she needed more. 

She wished she knew why -- maybe it was due to her recently turning into a heat vampire? Perhaps at the start, she would need more body heat than normal. She sincerely hoped that it would never come to killing multiple people at one time like that other heat vampire, Jack, had done. 

Still despite that, Caitlin was relieved to be back home on her own Earth. To return to her friends, people who knew her well as she knew them. Though she wouldn’t say no to returning to the other Earth -- Earth 7 apparently according to Cisco -- to spend more time with the other Barry. She thought her time with him was too short, and she certainly didn’t want their final encounter to involve her draining his body heat, nearly killing him. She wanted to make a better impression on him no matter if he had agreed to risking his life for hers. 

Now she had to mentally prepare herself to hurting someone else. In some ways, this was worse because she was close friends with this Barry, they had years of history together. And now, she needed Barry’s help, and him being ever the hero, easily accepted the chance to help her. Both were self-sacrificial it seemed -- Caitlin recalling the other Hartley’s words about the other Barry. 

She almost wished that Barry and Cisco would end their friendship with her, shun her for the sort of meta she had become. They had dealt with a lot of strange metas these past few years, but Caitlin thought her heat vampire curse was the worst of them all. 

But Barry, being Barry, had told her that he felt at fault for asking her Frost persona to stop the nuclear bomb. That if he hadn’t made the request, Frost wouldn’t have overexerted her powers. She wouldn’t have landed on a different Earth with her powers mutating so that she became a heat vampire. Caitlin argued that his guilt was unfounded, but Barry still insisted and wouldn’t let her reassure him that no blame should be placed on his shoulders. 

*

**“** You have to let me help you, Caitlin,” Barry told her. 

Caitlin was turned away from him, staring at the opposite wall from her place on the bed in the Med Bay. 

Cisco spoke up. “We can’t let you die.”

“I understand. But I could kill you.” She reminded Barry, a sad look on her face.

“I’m willing to take the risk. I just hope you can accept that,” Barry said. “I’m ready to do my part. You’re my best friend, Cait, and I’m not going to stand by and watch you die.”

“I won’t either,” Cisco put in.

“Let’s get this over with,” Caitlin said, sounding weary and like this was still the last thing she wanted to do. But there was no way around it. “I’m sorry for what I’m putting you through,” she said to Barry with a frown.

“You don’t need to apologize, Caitlin.”

Barry could tell that she was feeling bad that Iris wasn’t here because of a disagreement regarding saving Caitlin. Iris hadn’t liked that Barry would be risking his life, but Barry had been adamant about helping Caitlin, no matter the danger and the chance he could die.

Barry took hold of her hand.

He nodded at her, giving her a small encouraging smile, trying to reassure her that this was okay. That she take what she needed from him: the heat she badly needed from a living person. 

Barry felt the exchange begin as his fingers felt cold to the touch. His fingertips started getting whiter, close to turning blue. No amount of rubbing his fingers together could restore warmth. They still felt like he was getting frostbitten. The heat from his body continued to leave him and went into Caitlin. 

Caitlin looked miserable as the guilt overwhelmed her Barry imagined. He hated that she was feeling that way, but he hoped that in the future, she would appreciate it. When she would see that Barry would come out of this alive, he was sure that she would see things differently. 

He wished that she had more faith that he could handle this -- that being a speedster gave him the extra protection that others didn’t have. Barry was confident he could handle the frustrating effects of severe heat loss. The knowledge that he was saving a close friend would keep him going.

After all, Caitlin would live to see another sunrise through his help. 

“I don’t want to lose you.” Caitlin murmured, looking teary-eyed.

Barry was shivering, his teeth chattering as he spoke, “You won’t. I promise, Cait, you won’t lose me.”

*

Relief swept through her when the pull inside her for body heat subside. The voice urging her to get more body heat, for now, was silent. 

She let go of his Barry’s hand. His hand fell limp. 

Caitlin kneeled before him. She felt his pulse at his wrist and while weak, it was still a little stronger than the other Barry’s at this point in time. Of course, that made sense considering Barry’s abilities as a meta. 

“Barry? Barry? You need to vibrate, okay? Listen to me -- you  _ need to vibrate _ to feel better.” 

He just stared back at her, his expression one of confusion, but Caitlin was grateful that at least Barry was keeping his eyes open despite dealing with the effects of hypothermia.

Caitlin looked over at Cisco. “Barry’s not vibrating. What should we do?”

Cisco shrugged, not looking too concerned. Maybe he had more faith in Barry’s abilities that Caitlin did at the moment. She was sure her fear at being the direct cause of Barry’s death was fueling her current distress. She was making things worse than they really were. 

“Maybe he needs a jolt,” Cisco suggested to her.

Caitlin wanted to throw something at him. “He’s already had a jolt! He’s had a lot of his body heat drained. What more “jolt” does he need?”

Cisco raised his hands in surrender. “Caitlin, calm down, all right. This is Barry,  _ the Flash _ , we’re talking about. He can handle this. You and I both know it. Just give him a cold shock, for a second or two. That should wake his brain up and he’ll remember to use his superspeed to vibrate.”

Caitlin sighed, nodding at him. Uneasily, she placed her hand by Barry’s left shoulder. He just looked at her, still not saying anything.

“Barry, can you hear me? I’m going to help you, all right?”

“Why is it so _ cold _ ?” Barry finally asked, his voice small. 

He blinked, and his eyelids were fluttering closed. He was losing his fight to stay awake.

“Barry, no!” Caitlin cried out. Within a split second, she transformed into Killer Frost and a blast of cold shot through her fingers and struck Barry’s left shoulder.

Barry’s eyes went wide and he sat up straighter.

“You’re the Flash, Barry," she told him as she returned back to being Caitlin, dropping her Frost alter-ego. "You need to vibrate to warm up faster, do you understand? Please vibrate, okay?”

Barry looked at her with more recognition in his eyes. He nodded, and she watched him vibrate, his body becoming blurrier as the vibration took place.

After close to an hour of Barry warming himself up, he was finally looking better. Caitlin could tell he needed a little more time to fully recover, but she relieved that he was, well, alive in front of her. And that she hadn’t killed him like that voice in her head had threatened would happen.

She hugged him, smiling widely, as she embraced him tightly. “I’m  _ so sorry _ . I wish you never agreed to do this. I hated seeing you hurt,” she told Barry.

“Cait, I  _ hated  _ to see  _ you hurt _ . I would risk my life again for you to see you happy or to get another hug from you,” he told her, grinning at her.

“Thank you,” she said softly. 

She felt him kiss the top of her head and Caitlin smiled to herself, feeling at peace for the moment in Barry’s arms, content to be back home with her friends.

~ * ~


End file.
